Monday, July 18, 2011

The summer exodus

The UAE is definitely feeling quieter now the summer is here. As soon as the schools finish, the Jumeirah Janes and the Khalidiya Kates take their darling little ones back home for the summer, leaving their hubbies to fend for themselves as bachelors for 8-10 weeks.

I'm only jealous of course, I would love to escape the summer here and enjoy that amount of time in a sensible climate and not open my front door as if I am opening the over door to check the Sunday (or Friday) roast; or get in my car while it's been parked during an appointment and have my skin weld itself to part of the door frame, steering wheel or dashboard that I foolishly lean on; or get third degree burns walking from my car to the said appointment, as a baseball cap doesn't make a good business accessory.

One benefit though, is that the roads are much quieter. Still cars manage to hit each other on 10 lane highways with about 6 cars on them within 2 miles, which is quite a feat - it's actually harder to hit something than to avoid everything, so, impressive.

I think the worst of the weather is still to come, as we have only had one week about a month ago when the temperature touched 51C. Since then, we haven't reached those highs. So I guess, just as we are approaching Ramadan (no food/drink/smoking/sex during daylight hours), things could turn nasty weatherwise. I noticed the lights are being put up on the Corniche which reminded me of the imminent Ramadan festivities.

We have to wait until Aug 12th before we get a trip home, and then only for a week. But we are really looking forward to it, especially to see our kids. We also have a wedding to attend in Berlin on the way back, which will also be nice.

Before we leave we have a new maid starting, Madhu, who is currently at home in Sri Lanka, but will join us on Aug 5th. She seems very nice and we are hoping that she will be fine.

About Me

I moved to Abu Dhabi in June 2008 from Eynsford, Kent. Eynsford is a quaint, typical English village where my 250 year old home was nestled between two pubs.
Abu Dhabi was quite a contrast. There is nothing much there that is more than c.50 years old. In summer it is also about 30 degrees hotter!
I went to earn a bit of tax-free money (didn't really have much to show for it by the end!) and to gain some life experience (but came home with bags of this).
This blog is a record of my time there, so I can share some of what I experienced.